Concrete forms



B. WILLIAMS CONCRETE FORMS Oct. 28, 1958 Filed Dec. 1. 1955 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BERNARD Mu. IAMS T Tom/. Y5

Oct. 28, 1958 v I B. WILLIAMS 2,

CONCRETE FORMS Filed Dec. 1. 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. BERNARDMLL 04/145 A T TO/PN E Y5 B. WILLIAMS CONCRETE FORMS .Oct. 28, 1958 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 1. 1955 5 M m M W/E EL N WM 5% W 8T D M W N myB r CONCRETE FORMS Bernard Williams, Boise, Idaho; Alta G. Williams,executrix of said Bernard Williams, deceased Application December 1,1255, Serial No. 550,260

4 Claims. (Cl. 25-131) This invention relates to forms for theconstruction of large concrete masses, such as dams and thelike, whichare built in superposed layers.

Concrete dams for retaining large bodies of water for irrigation and forthe generation of electricity are often of such great height and lengththat they must be built in separate layers superposed on each other andfre' quently each layer is built in sections. Forms for such largemasses are constructed from panels or sections that are anchored to thesolidified concrete and extend upwardly to the height of the next layer.Such forms are sometimes referred to as cantilever forms and one examplethereof has been shown in U. S. Patent 2,649,643. Concrete in theflowable state in which it is poured into the forms exerts a powerfulhydrostatic pressure which tends to move the forms outwardly and thispressure is measured when the concrete is subjected to mechanicalvibration for increasing its compactness and density. It is, therefore,evident that forms of the type referred to must be so designed that theycan withstand great pressures without undue flexure or distortion.

Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to providea concrete form consisting of two superposed panels each including twosuperposed hinged sections, the lower panel being fixedly attached tothe concrete in position to support the upper panel thereon and theupper panel providing the support for the lower panel when removed andarranged on top thereof.

Another object is to so design the form panels that they can be set inposition with a minimum amount of labor and expense.

A further object is to produce a form that can be correctly aligned andwhich will retain its alignment during the concrete placement.

An additional object is to produce a form that can be set with less riskof injury to the workman and property than is usual in similaroperations.

Having thus, in a general way, described the construction and some ofthe principal objects. of the invention it will now be described indetail, for which purpose reference will be had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein the invention has been illustrated, and in which:

Figure l is an end elevational view of the panel shown in Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view looking in the direction of arrow2, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view, similar to the one shown in Figure1, but showing a modification that better adapts the invention for useon the vertical side of a concrete mass;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view showing the manner in which theupper half of the top section employed on an inclined wall can be turnedback to facilitate pouring the concrete;

nited States Patent Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational view lookingin the direction of arrow 5 in Figures 3 and 6;

Figure 6 is an elevational view, partly in section, taken on line 6-6Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevational view, looking through plane 77,Figure 8;

Figure 8 is a section taken on line 88 Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a section taken on line 9-9 Figure 7;

Figure 10 is a section through the uppermost chamfer strip shown at theextreme top of Figure 3;

Figure 11 shows a section taken at the point indicated by 1111 in Figure7;

Figure 12 is a section taken at the point indicated by 12a in Figure 1;and,

Figure 13 is a transverse diagrammatic section intended to facilitatethe description.

Referring now to the drawing, reference numeral 15 designates a portionof a poured concrete dam which has a vertical up-stream side 16 and aninclined downstream side 17. The forms shown on the drawing may beconsidered as positioned at some distance above the bottom of the dam inorder to simplify the description. For reasons that will hereinafter beexplained, the form units or panels used on the up-stream or verticalside (see Figure 3) are slightly different from those used on theinclined down-stream side (see Figures 1, 2 and 4) and the descriptionwill be directed principally to the latter. Each panel comprises twosections A and B (Figures 1 and 2) that are interconnected by hinges 18.Each section A and B consists of three frames including a bottom anglebar 19, a similar top bar 20, an inside frame member 21, and an outsideframe member 22 secured against deformation by diagonal braces 23 whichare inclined in opposite directions in the two sections to form withmembers 21 and the hinges 18 a truss for resisting forces acting in thedirection of arrow P in Figure 1. A plurality of stiffener angles 24(which are welded to frame members 21) extend horizontally and serve assupports for plate 25 which is usually 3/ in thickness. The verticaledges of plates 25 are stiffened by fiat steel bars 26. Each section isadditionally strengthened by diagonal braces. 27 the whole forming astrong and rigid panel assembly.

The three rectangular frames of Sections A and B above described arejoined at their corresponding lower and upper ends by heavy angle bars28 and 29. Sections A and B are joined by hinges 18, as above noted, andas shown in Figure 1. The corners, on the inside corresponding to theposition of the hinges, are spaced by a chamfer strip assembly 30, likethat shown in Figure 12. This assembly is formed from a 2 x 2 x A Lhaving welded thereto a plate 31 that forms a bisector of the angle andextends outwardly into the space between the two sections where it isremovably attached by a bolt.

The lower inside corners of the three frames of the lower section ofeach panel are provided with inverted U-shaped members 32 through whichthe anchor bolts 33 extend, as shown most clearly in Figures 3 and 8.Welded or otherwise secured to the top of the uppermost frame members 20of each panel are upwardly opening U-shaped anchors 34 that receive theanchor bolts and extend above them as shown most clearly in Figure 8.The sides of anchors 34 are provided with holes 35 for the reception ofa heavy spike or pin.

The anchor bolts have long threaded sections and two nuts thatindependently engage members 32 and 34, as shown most clearly in Figure8. It will be seen from Figure 1 that each panel is anchored to theconcrete mass by the lower anchor bolt and is releasably anchored at itsupper end to the top anchor bolts by means of the U-shaped member 34.After the concrete mass has reached line 36 (Figure 13), the lowerpanel, which has been shown dotted in that figure and designated aspanel Y, is released by removing the nuts shown at the lower end ofsection A in Figure 1, removing the spike or pin from opening 35, and.removing the clampingbolt' 37 (shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9).

Panel Y can now be pried loose from the concrete mass and positioned ontop of panel X which remains firmly anchored to the concrete mass by thelower and upper anchor bolts, the former of which cooperates with member32 and the second mentioned with member 34. After panel Y has beentransferred to the top of panel X, and positioned as shown in Figure 8,bolts 37 are positioned as shown in Figure 9 and if it' is found to benecessary, shims 38 are positioned as shown in Figures 7 and 8, afterwhich bolts 37 can be tightened.

It is now necessary to adjust the two panels for vertical alignment andfor this purpose the following means have been provided which are shownin detail in Figures and 6. A Z-bar 39 is attached to the lower outsidecorner of the panel frames and a cooperating bracket 40 is attached tothe upper outer corners of the panel frames. An eye bolt 41 is attachedto the bracket by means of pivot 42. The outwardly directed flange ofthe Z-bar is provided with a notch 43 for each bolt, as shown in Figures5 and 6. An adjustment bolt cooperates with nut 45 that is welded to thetop of the vertical frame members 22. The heads of the bolts form stepsor supports for the lower outer corners of the section frame members. Byturning bolt 44 the panels can be tilted about the inner corners andtheplates 26 can, therefore, be angularly adjusted after which bolts 37 and41 are tightened. Panel Y, which now projects above the top of thehardened concrete, is now in position to act as the outer form wall. Dueto the thickness of the panel frames and their diagonal braces theyresist powerful forces without appreciable flexing which assures thatthe surfaces of the concrete mass will have the desired inclinationwhich is an important consideration where tall dams and other structuresare built.

The chamfer strip 30 must be attached to the panels in several diiferentmanners depending on their location. The chamfer strip at the top of theupper panel is at tached by means of a screw clamp arrangement as shownin Figure it). it is important that the upper ends of the supporting orlower panel be anchored securely to the solidified concrete. Referringnow to Figure 4, line 46 designates the top of the layer before the toppanel has been put into position. It will be observed that the topanchor bolts are downwardly inclined relative to the top surface 46 andare, therefore, firmly anchored, especially since their inner ends areangled downwardly. The sections on the inclined sides can, therefore,have rectangular parallelogram shaped frames. From Figure 13 it will beseen that the up-stream surface of the dam is vertical and, ifrectangular frames like those shown on the inclined side were used theupper anchor bolts would not be properly embedded in the concrete. Ithas been found that the panel frames for the vertical side must berhomboidal, as shown in Figure 3. For reasons that will shortly appear,the frame panels need not be constructed of two hinged sections such asA and B of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 3, it will be seen that each panel is slightlyshorter than the combined lengths of Sections A and B of Figure 1, sincethe latter correspond to the hypothenuse of a triangle while the panelson the vertical side correspond to the vertical side of a right angletriangle. For ease in comparison the corresponding frame members havebeen given the same reference numbers as those in Figure 1, but have theletter (1 added. In Figure 3 several transverse members 47 4 areprovided to support a plank platform 48. It is evident from Figure 3that the top of the upper panel will remain firmly anchored to thesolidified concrete and that the lower panel can be shifted from thebottom to the top in the manner above described in connection with thepanels on the inclined surface.

The reason for making the panels for the inclined or down-stream surfacein two hingedly connected sections will now be explained, for whichpurpose reference will be had to Figure 4. Due to the fact that theinside surface of the panels are upwardly ranging in the direction ofthe up-stream side, the concrete must be vibrated or spaded to flow intothe angle between the panel surface and the top of the lower layer. Byhinging the top section B there is, first of all, more room for dumpingthe concrete and less thickness of concrete to vibrate than if the upperpanel was straight and occupied the broken line position. This is afeature of considerable importance as it assures a more uniform densityof the concrete due to the more thorough vibration or spading and speedsthe operation. When the concrete reaches the top level shown in Figure4, Section B is turned back to the broken line position and the opposedflanges of frame members 19 and 20 are firmly interconnected by bolts 49as shown in Figure 12; whereupon the pouring of concrete continues up tothe level indicated by broken line 56. Section B is held in tiltedposition by one or more bars 51. The anchor bolts are of well knownconstruction and comprise two parts 52 and 53 that have a threadedconnection so that part 53 can be removed for reuse.

The basic idea or gist of this invention resides in the fact that theform on each side of the concrete mass consists of two substantiallyidentical forms composed of one or more panels, depending on the lengthof the mass to be cast at one time. hardened the lower form is removedand positioned on the top of the remaining form which serves as a baseas above described.

Another feature of great importance is that the panels employed on thedown-stream or sloping side are each formed in two sections of equalwidth hinged so that the upper half may be tilted outwardly to provide awider space into which to pour the concrete and in which to work. Sincethe forms are made in two hinged sections they can be fitted for heightsthat are multiples of one half the width of the form panels. Attentionis directed to the fact that the anchor bolts are operatively attachedto each panel at its very top so as to offer the greatest possibleresistance to the powerful cantilever forces developed during use.

What is claimed as new is:

1. in combination: at least two substantially identical concrete forms,each of said forms having at least one substantially flat andsubstantially rectangular panel, each of said panels having at least twoframes projecting outwardly from one face thereof in horizontally spacedsubstantially parallel relation, the frames of any two forms arranged insuperposed contacting relation cooperating to resist forces acting totilt the panel of the upper form outwardly relative to the lower formpanel, lower bracket means attached to at least two of the frames ofeach form along the lower inside edge thereof, upper bracket meansattached to each form along the upper edge thereof spaced outwardly fromthe panel and positioned for alignment with one of the lower bracketmeans of a superposed form, and anchor means releasably attached withinthe lower and upper bracket means of at least one form in position to becast into a concrete structure to support said form thereon, said anchormeans attached within the upper bracket means of said form providingmeans for attaching the lower bracket means of a second form insuperposed position on top of said first mentioned form, said secondform providing a retaining wall After the concrete has set or to containa fresh pour of concrete and, after said fresh concrete has set, asupport for said first-mentioned form when detached from said anchormeans and placed in superposed relation on said second form.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the two superposed formsare releasably interconnected adjacent their adjoining outer edges by anadjustable connector operative to adjust the alignment of the panels.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which each panel is dividedinto upper and lower panel sections, each frame is divided into upperand lower frame sections, the upper frame sections being attached to theupper panel sections and the lower frame sections to the lower panelsections, and hinge means interconnecting the upper and lower sectionsof the frames at the adjoining outside edges thereof.

4. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the superposed forms arereleasably interconnected adjacent their adjoining outer edges by anadjustable latch means which operatively interconnects the superposedforms and maintains said forms in adjusted relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS651,019 Ransome June 5, 1900 713,173 Taylor Nov. 11, 1902 751,789 GrayFeb. 9, 1904 916,083 Witthoefit Mar. 23, 1909 1,032,419 Morrill July 16,1912 1,368,105 Bostain Feb. 8, 1921 2,493,264 Records Jan. 3, 19502,649,643 Schutte Aug. 25, 1953 2,723,437 Ghormley et a1. Nov. 15, 19552,738,563 Steele Mar. 20, 1956

